Live reporting: School Committee - Feb 9, 2016

Present:  Bergen, O'Malley, Schultz, Jewell, Douglas (late), Bilello (late)
Absent:  Scofield 

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments 
none

Review of Agenda
minor adjustment on order of presentations

Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the January 26, 2016 School Committee Meeting.
motion to accept, seconded, passed 4-0

Payment of Bills Dr. O’Malley
Payroll Mrs. Douglas (not present)

FHS Student Representatives

• Alana

thanks for the past 2 snow days
caps and gowns coming soon, 

• Julie 

new food policy for within the school building
teachers have discretion in their classrooms
new lanyard policy, have on their presence, need not wear them

parents dropping kids off in student parking lot
need to use the loop not the parking lot

Correspondence: Budget to Actual – Miriam Goodman

2. Guests/Presentations

b. Student Services Update 
Deborah Dixon, Director
Sue Borchard and Stephanie Geddis


reviewing the section 504 requirements
379 0r 6.7% percent of the students


McKinney-Vento Homeless Education

Q - on the immunization requirement
roughly 20 students in this category over the last 2 years
not that they don't need it, the records are normally required for admission
we serve them and then follow up on the records

special education is specially designed instruction for the students
requirements

Special ed programs at Jefferson, Keller and Oak St
all schools provide inclusion based class services

review of types of disabilities
autism the #1 category

full inclusion (608), partial inclusion (53) and sub separate (90) are the three types of delivery

some students are serviced outside the district

comments from Tom Hehir, special education educator at Harvard

Special education survey coming in March, targeting families and faculty

Leaping into Kindergarten, Feb 29 (leap day)

Students
Best Buddies at FHS now on Twitter
@bestFHSbuddies    https://twitter.com/BestFHSBuddies

getting buddies involved with more than just football
did volleyball, basketball and working on others

Best Buddies Holiday party

pep rally before the Thanksgiving break

Jason, co-president of Best Buddies at FHS

Parents
"when parents are involved, the success is marvelous"

SEPAC Chair - Sara Mulcahey

parents can help each other, recommendations, support
monthly workshops open to the public

http://franklinsepac.org/

The SEPAC group is a 501(c)3 operating separately but collaboratively with the school district

Caryn Budd, Vice Chair SEPAC
mother of Korey, now 16 with a passion for life
Guild School, Waltham

O'Malley - thanks, very proud of the students

Jewell - comments to reinforce the parents getting involved with their children's development, it is so critical to the overall success

Bilello - use of more technology to help with some of the disabilities, need more professional development to support the teachers servicing the students

Bergen - is it tracked to see how many students with services eventually don't need the services?
- it is tracked but we haven't got the numbers handy

Franklin, MA: School Committee - Agenda - Feb 9

Vision Statement

The Franklin Public Schools will foster within its students the knowledge and skills to find and achieve satisfaction in life as productive global citizens.

AGENDA

"The listing of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which

may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed

and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent

permitted by law."

Franklin Public Schools "the key to learning"

1. Routine Business 

• Citizen’s Comments 
• Review of Agenda 
• Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the January 26, 2016 School Committee Meeting. 
• Payment of Bills Dr. O’Malley 
• Payroll Mrs. Douglas 
• FHS Student Representatives 
• Correspondence: Budget to Actual – Miriam Goodman

2. Guests/Presentations
a. ECDC Update 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczLWk2bDJXMXVFTm9WYTNvS205S0tJWEw5bEpv/view?usp=sharing

b. Student Services Update

3. Discussion Only Items

• Calendar Committee

4. Action Items
a. I recommend acceptance of a check for $20.00 from a parent for district wide field trips. 
b. I recommend acceptance of a check for $700.00 from Target for field trips for Parmenter students. c. I recommend acceptance of a check for $4,771.63 from the Jefferson PCC for field trips for Jefferson students.
d. I recommend acceptance of the donation of HDMI Cables from JEM Electronics (approximate value $50) for districtwide use.

5. Information Matters

• Superintendent’s Report 
• School Committee Sub-Committee Reports 
• School Committee Liaison Reports

6. New Business
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.

7. Motion to Adjourn 
– Dr. O’Malley

In the News: family science night, Dean performance scheduled, Circle of Friends concert

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin

The high school will hosts its second annual "Family Science Night" next month - an event intended to encourage science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) interest on the part of elementary and middle school students. 

The event - scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 10 - will be organized by the high school's Science National Honor Society group. 

The group, said high school science teacher Ann Butler, is comprised of students who have reached a certain GPA in science subjects. This is the society's largest event of the year. 

"Last year, the idea was to invite elementary students to the night, and it was a wild, wild hit," said Butler. "We never anticipated the crowds we got - it was about 300 kids."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160208/franklin-science-night-set-for-march

The School of the Arts at Dean College will perform “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” March 2-6 in the Performing Arts Studios Stage at Dean College, 61 School St. 

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” is the tale of Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” as told from the view of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

The Dean College production will take place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday – Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160208/dean-college-to-present-rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-are-dead

The Circle of Friends Coffeehouse will host Seth Glier at 8 p.m. Feb. 27 in the First Universalist Society’s Meetinghouse, 262 Chestnut St. 

A singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist who averages over 250 live performances annually, Glier has gone from opening act to headlining his own shows and playing major festivals. He’s shared the stage with artists as diverse as James Taylor, Ani DiFranco, Edwin McCain, Martin Sexton, Emmylou Harris and Ryan Adams. For more on Glier, visit sethglier.com.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160208/circle-of-friends-coffeehouse-to-host-seth-glier

Circle of Friends Coffeehouse

Memory Café - Feb 18 - 3:00 PM

Memory Café

Thursday-February 18th at 3:00 pm.

Please join us!

We will be hosting a small dog for a pet visit.

Please join us in the Cafeteria 

at the Franklin Senior Center.

The Café is free of charge and open to the public.

We will serve light refreshments!

Please call Elaine Owens at 508-520-4945 to sign up.

Franklin Senior Center

Pastel Art Classes Begin February 25

Franklin Public Schools            Lifelong Learning Institute   THE CENTER FOR ADULT EDUCATION and COMMUNITY LEARNING  is pleased to announce   PASTEL CLASS Don't wait  ........  start painting now Pick up a pastel stick and work with one of the oldest art medium known to man. Seeing pure pigment on a surface will heighten your interest to place color where you want it, where it stays.  Color is all around us and we will capture some of it with pastels.   We will begin with working with different strokes, shapes, design, negative/positive space, layering, minimal blending, and graduated color.   You will learn how to preserve your completed work.  There will be one-on-one attention, tips and techniques, and working from still life set ups, moving onto land/seascape compositions with weekly critiques to further one's learning experience. February 25 through March 31 Franklin High School 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm $75.00 Register Now The class is taught by GAIL ECKBERG, a full-time teaching artist 218 Oak Street, Franklin, MA 02038, adulted@franklin.k12.ma.us, 508-613-1480

Forward this email FPS- Lifelong Learning | 355 East Central Street | Franklin | MA | 02038

Random Smile Project Gala - March 12

Random Smile Project (RSP)  is celebrating 10 years of community service with our Gala on March 12th at the Providence Convention Center there will be 

• Live and Silent auction
• Dinner and Dancing with the Grab Brothers Band 

Discounted room rates available at the Omni Hotel in Providence. 

Complete information available at www.randomsmile.org/gala/

Random Smile Project Gala - March 12

The Grab Brothers Band will play for your entertainment and dancing

"every conversation is an opportunity to engage and delight customers"

"Interactions, a Franklin-based tech firm backed by $110 million in venture capital funding, has debuted what its CEO calls "game-changing innovations" for its virtual assistant technology. 

The company works to improve conversations between humans and automated customer service software. This week, it announced new technologies that make an automated virtual assistant as smart as a human customer-service agent."

Continue reading the article in the Boston Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/techflash/2016/02/franklin-tech-firm-develops-a-new-kind-of-customer.html

screen grab of Interactions website